Genetic diversity and population structure of the sea star Asterias amurensis in the northern coast of China

The sea star Asterias amurensis is widely viewed as a severe "marine pest" because of its broad feeding habits. Over the past few decades, A. amurensis undergoes massive and sporadic population outbreaks worldwide, causing extensive economic and ecological losses to the local aquaculture industry and marine ecosystem. Understanding the genetic diversity and population structure of A. amurensis can provide vital information for resource management. By analyzing the polymorphism of the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and ten simple sequence repeat (SSR) microsatellites markers, the genetic diversity and population structure of A. amurensis of four populations along the northern coast of China was uncovered. A total of 36 haplotypes were identified, and a main haplotype was found in four populations. The Qingdao (QD) population displayed the highest genetic diversity among all the populations. The AMOVA and pairwise F-st showed that there was small but statistically significant population differentiation among the four populations, especially between QD and Weihai (WH). Moreover, the principal component analysis (PCA) and admixture analysis showed that several individuals in Yantai (YT) and Dalian (DL) had little genetic association with other individuals. Overall, this study provided useful information of the genetic diversity and population structure of A. amurensis and will contribute to the resource management of A. amurensis in China.